Intellectual property verdicts more than doubled last year compared with 2013, thanks to several nine-figure verdicts. But none crossed the billion-dollar threshold last reached in 2012, and patent trolls had nothing to do with the surge.

Fifteen intellectual property verdicts totaled $1.87 billion last year, according to the Top 100 Verdicts of 2014 compiled by Corporate Counsel affiliate VerdictSearch. That represented a 131 percent spike from the nine verdicts worth a collective $808 million in 2013.

VerdictSearch bases its findings on court records, consultations with practitioners and a review of news reports. They key was what a jury awarded; the survey did not account for subsequent judicial reductions, offsets or appeals.